When it appeared that the Commerce Clause argument was not being favorably received, the justice department went with an argument they believed the majority of the Justices could sign onto - characterizing the penalty as a tax.

Today, pretty much everyone was shocked about how well that argument worked, drawing the conservative Chief Justice over to the side of the liberals and leaving the usual swing vote of Anthony Kennedy at the side of the road writing a dissent with the minority.

Before oral arguments in March, polls of Supreme Court experts and scholars showed that most believed the mandate would be upheld as an exercise of Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce.

But after justices seemed deeply skeptical of the mandate in oral arguments in March, the consensus flipped, with most experts guessing the court would strike down the law

In a speedily issued press release, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, hailed the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, saying,

Today, in upholding the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has shown that, even at a time when Washington seems to have reached a new level of dysfunction, there remains a respect for the rule of law, for precedent, and for the ability of Congress to legislate on matters that affect the American people.